Reacting to the controversy around widespread federal surveillance of consumers’ telephone and Internet records, Democratic U.S. Rep. Edward Markey fell far short of criticizing the once-secret government programs in a meeting Monday with Patriot Ledger editors.

Chris Burrell

Reacting to the controversy around widespread federal surveillance of consumers’ telephone and Internet records, Democratic U.S. Rep. Edward Markey fell far short of criticizing the once-secret government programs.

Markey, a U.S. Senate candidate who will take part in a second televised debate tonight with Republican rival Gabriel Gomez of Cohasset, tried to strike a balance between national security and privacy.

“It’s important for us to ensure all necessary tools are in the hands of law enforcement,” he said Monday during a meeting with Patriot Ledger editors. “But as technology evolves and becomes more sophisticated, we need to attach our values to them. We have to make sure big data doesn’t turn into Big Brother.”

Markey, a 36-year veteran of Congress and a longtime member of the House Telecommunications Committee, said Congress needs to ask more questions about the once-secret national security programs that collect records on an estimated 3 billion phone calls a day and amass Internet data from U.S. providers.

With the U.S. Senate special election just two weeks away, the issue could be cutting into Markey’s lead over Gomez, a private equity investor and former Navy SEAL.

A new poll released Monday from Suffolk University showed Markey supported by 48 percent of voters compared with 41 percent for Gomez. A week ago, Markey led Gomez in a poll of 700 likely voters, 52 percent to 40 percent.

Suffolk pollster David Paleologos said in a prepared statement that voters do not favor government intrusions into their phone records or those of journalists.

“Markey’s core ballot test number has fallen below 50 percent and recent Obama administration scandals ... have touched a nerve with likely voters who are holding back or no longer supporting Markey and President Obama with the same intensity,” Paleologos said.

Markey said Monday that he agreed that officials should prosecute Edward Snowden, the intelligence contractor who leaked information about U.S. government surveillance programs to newspaper reporters.

Asked what he’s hearing from voters across the state, Markey said Massachusetts residents remain worried about jobs and the economy.

And he criticized the regional effects of across-the-board cuts known as sequestration.

“I voted no on sequestration in 2011,” said Markey. “It’s going to lead to the loss of 60,000 jobs in NIH (National Institutes of Health) and defense-funded programs central to the well-being of the Massachusetts economy. We are the second-biggest recipient of NIH grants after California.”

He blames tea party Republicans for “debilitating” logjams in Congress, concluding that “they don’t believe in government, but they run for office to make sure government doesn’t work.”

Markey often invokes the memory of his mother, who died from Alzheimer’s disease. He talks not only about his legislation to fund a cure for the disease but also about a woman who quit school but somehow had the smarts to help him decode his Calculus and Latin homework as a boy.

The one-hour debate tonight in Springfield begins at 7.

On Wednesday, President Barack Obama is expected to campaign for Markey in Boston. The special election is June 25.

Material from The Associated Press and State House News Service was used in this report. Chris Burrell may be reached at cburrell@ledger.com